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Easy Holiday Recipes from "Food Network" Stars

Sure, the Deen Brothers are pros-- but they know sometimes it's best to keep it simple, too. Here's a few of their best holiday recipes that'll make you feel like a five-star chef as you whip them up to create the ultimate holiday feast.

By Amy Copperman

Food Network

While Food Network stars Jamie and Bobby Deen say they still let Queen of Butter Paula Deen do most of the holiday cooking, the brothers created recipes you may want to introduce to your family this year. What holiday table couldn’t use sweet potato and squash soup with gingerbread croutons or cranberry apple rum raisin pie?! And it wouldn’t be the holidays without lots of wine and at least a little good will. The Deen brothers created each recipe with Beringer Founders’ Estate wines in mind in honor of the Million Meals campaign. When you purchase a bottle of Beringer Founders’ Estate wine this holiday season, the Napa-based wine company will donate a dollar to a food bank in your area. If you’re going to imbibe, you might as well do so knowing your purchase will help the company reach its goal of providing 2 million meals to families in need nationwide. Read on for Jamie and Bobby Deen’s custom recipes.

*Directions* Preheat oven to 350º F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and put the prepared ginger bread cubes on the tray and bake for 15 minutes, turning over once in the middle of baking. Gingerbread croutons should be hard and dry. If not, continue baking until hard. In a large saucepan, add squash, sweet potatoes, onion, butter, vegetable stock, cinnamon and nutmeg. Simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Working in batches, purée soup in a blender until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Temper the cream by adding a little of the hot soup purée into the light cream before stirring into the rest of the soup purée. Serve topped with gingerbread croutons.

*Directions* Soak the raisins in the rum overnight. Preheat oven to 425º F. Position oven rack to the middle position. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Add cranberries, apples, lemon zest and juice and rum raisin mixture. Toss to coat. On a lightly floured surface, roll out larger piece of dough into a 12-inch round. Drape over a 9-inch pie plate. Do not stretch dough. Trim edge leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Refrigerate while rolling out top crust. Roll out remaining dough to a 10-inch round. Remove pie plate from the refrigerator and fill with apple cranberry filling. Dot the top of the fruit with butter. Cover the pie with the top dough round. Allow dough to gently drape over the fruit. Trim edges to to be flush with the edge of the pie plate and decoratively crimp the edges. Brush the top of the pie with the lightly beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. Using a sharp knife, cut 4 steam vents in the top crust. Place pie on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375º F and continue to bake until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling out the steam holes (approximately 45 minutes more). Cool pie to room temperature before slicing.

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